Many different types of paper clips have been proposed heretofore, and the most common form of paper clips come in two sizes, with the larger size being formed from a piece of wire which is approximately 61/2 or 65/8 inches in length. These clips are normally about 2 inches or slightly less in length and about 3/8 inch in width. Now, particularly when several separate stacks of clipped papers are to be piled up on one another, it is most desirable that the paper clips lie flat upon the top and bottom sheets of the smaller stacks of papers being held together by each clip. Using conventional large size paper clips of the type mentioned above, when the thickness of a stack of papers reaches approximately 1/16th of an inch in thickness, the paper clip tends to bow out from the paper. More specifically, this bowing starts when the stack of paper gets to be about 1/16th of an inch thick and by the time the thickness of the papers to be secured together reaches 5/16th of an inch, the clip bows out approximately 1/4 inch on one side and about 3/16ths on the other side. Accordingly, it is quite inconvenient to try to stack up several stacks of papers which are clipped together with these large clips, where the extent of the clip above and below the papers to be held together is about 7/16ths of an inch as compared with the thickness of the stack of only 5/16ths of an inch. In addition, the ends of the wires of conventional paper clips frequently bite into the paper and score or tear it as the clips are being removed from the paper.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an economical paper clip which is capable of holding together thick stacks of paper, with the paper clip still being in close engagement with the top and bottom of the sheets of paper and not bowing out from the stacks. A subordinate object of the present invention is to provide a paper clip which will hold the papers securely but will not score or damage the paper as the clips are being removed.